


Break First

by celine_cooperjones



Series: Northside Diaries [8]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Adultery, F/M, Hal kicks Alice out for cheating, Pre season one, Role Reversal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:06:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24220294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celine_cooperjones/pseuds/celine_cooperjones
Relationships: Alice Cooper/FP Jones II, Alice Cooper/Hal Cooper, FP Jones II/Gladys Jones
Series: Northside Diaries [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1573618
Kudos: 9





	Break First

"Here honey." Hal says, passing her a cup of punch. 

"Thank you." She smiles softly at him, they've been at this event for a few hours now, and she's more than ready to go home. 

It wasn't so bad at first, just everyone mingling and talking amongst themselves but then she locked eyes on FP and Gladys, who are so extra affectionate with each other tonight that it makes her want to be sick. 

She likes to tell herself she's not jealous, but it's still hard seeing them so blissfully happy while she's in agony over him. 

Hal nudges her and it snaps her out of her daze. "What's wrong?" 

"You haven't stopped staring at Gladys and FP since they walked in." 

"Sorry, I didn't even realize." She wraps her arms around his and points over at Fred and Mary. "Come on, let's go say hi." 

She busies herself chatting with Mary, but she doesn't miss the way FP wraps his arms around Gladys from behind, pressing kisses behind her ear. She can't deny the way she wishes it was her he was holding instead. 

Not long after she catches herself staring yet again, she feels Hal's arm curl around her waist. "You ready to go home?" 

She nods and says her goodbyes to Fred and Mary, following Hal our to their car. The ride home is silent, not that it's usually conversation filled, but there's usually something to talk about. Instead, the radio is the only sound between them and Alice feels a pit form in her stomach. 

When they get home, they find their babysitter doing her homework on the couch. "Hey, how were they?" Alice asks the teenager. 

"Angels as always." 

"They didn't give you any trouble at bedtime?" Hal asks. 

"No, I think they tired themselves out playing hide and go seek." 

Alice smiles at that and hands the girl a few bills to pay her for watching their daughter's. "Thanks for watching them." 

"Of course, I'm always happy to watch them." She slips on her jacket and shoes and gives them a smile. "Have a good night." 

"You too, drive safe." 

Alice hangs up her coat in the closet and steps out of her heels. She looks behind her at Hal and leans up to press a kiss to his cheek. "I'm just going to go check on the girls." 

He nods, something clearly on his mind. "I'll be in our room." 

She heads upstairs and into Polly's room, finding the little girl peacefully asleep, cuddled up in her blankets. She smiles at the sight and closes the door, walking further down the hall to Betty's room, finding that she's managed to kick off her blankets during her sleep state. 

Alice laughs softly, she always has been a restless sleeper. She picks up the fallen blankets and spreads them over her. Betty shifts and blearily blinks her eyes, noticing her mom standing by her bedside. "Mommy?" 

"Hi baby, I didn't mean to wake you, you just lost a couple blankets." 

"Did you and daddy have a fun night with your friends?" She groggily asks, snuggling up into her blankets again. 

"Yeah, honey we did." She leans down and brushes a kiss to Betty's forehead. "Sweet dreams, angel. I love you." 

"Love you too." 

Alice smiles at her as she almost immediately falls back asleep and she shuts the door behind her and walks into she and Hal's bedroom.

She freezes in place when she notices her suitcase sitting on the bed behind him. "Why is my suitcase out? Are we going on an impromptu trip or something?" 

"I should've known something was going on." He mumbles, biting at his thumb anxiously. 

Her eyebrows crinkle in confusion and she steps closer to him. "I'm not following." 

"I should've caught on sooner. You don't protest when I go on business trips anymore, you're always going out when you have a day off, you come home from work later than usual. I didn't really think much of it until I saw the way you were looking at him tonight." 

She feels her entire body go numb at that and her voice catches in her throat. "Hal, you sound insane." 

He scoffs. "You know, before tonight, I thought I was. But I see the way you look at him, Alice, I'm not blind." He pauses, looking at her with sad eyes. You used to look at me that way too." 

"Hal, I-" 

He raises his hand to stop her. "I don't want to hear it, Alice. You're not the person I married." He stands up from the bed and heads in the direction of their bathroom. "I want you gone by the time I'm out of the shower." 

Her mouth gapes open, her eyes filling with tears. Is he really kicking her out? "What about the girls? They're going to ask questions when I'm not here in the morning." 

"You can come over in the morning and we'll play happy family for their sake. But I don't want you here right now, I'm not sharing a bed with you, and I'm certainly not sharing you with another man." 

He slams the bathroom door shut behind him and she stands there frozen in place, her eyes quickly filling with tears as the shower starts up. 

She wants to stand her ground and not leave, but she knows that if she doesn't he will, there's no getting out of this. She should've kept herself in check, should've just ignored the couple. After all, she and FP are just friends, friends who occasionally have sex, but friends nonetheless. 

She cries silent tears as she packs her suitcase with enough clothes for a week. She collects her purse and keys and then she's shutting the front door behind her as quietly as possible and heading to the Register. 

Ideally, she'd stay at a hotel, but she can't risk people finding out that she and Hal's marriage isn't as picture perfect as it seems. So the Register it is. 

• 

Alice walks inside the house early the next morning, figuring she can pretend she's been up making breakfast by the time the girls wake up. However that plan is quickly foiled when Polly comes scampering down the stairs as soon as she hears the door. "Mommy!" 

Alice freezes. "What are you doing awake so early, honey?" She scoops her daughter up into her arms when she comes over to her and feels her hug her tightly. 

"I'm hungry, I went in to you and daddy's room but you were gone! Where did you go?" Her little eyebrows wrinkle and Alice presses a kiss to her head. 

"I just went for a walk, that's all, it's warm out today." 

"Ooo, can we go to the park later?" 

Alice smiles at her. "I'd love that." 

It becomes a daily thing that week, she sneaks out after the girls have gone to bed and sneaks back in early in the morning. The girls don't suspect a thing, and Hal refuses to talk to her. 

She figures if she's at the Register anyway, it's a good a time as any to catch up on work, plus it keeps her mind off of everything going on. 

Her supposed to be peaceful night is quickly diminished when a pair of headlights shine in and FP comes up to the door. 

She feels nauseous immediately, but she gets up to answer the door anyway, unlocking it and looking up at him. "What are you doing here?" 

"I had a late shift and I was just on my way home, I noticed your car here." 

"I'm just catching up some work." 

"At midnight?" 

She shrugs. "It's quiet, no one to bother me, well, besides you now I guess." She teases. "Do you want to come keep me company for a bit? Or do you have to get home?" 

"I can stay for a little while." He steps inside with her and she locks the door behind them again, awkwardly sticking her hands in her pockets as she stares at him. "Do you do this a lot? Come here at midnight to get work done?" 

She nods. "Recently, yeah." 

He raises an eyebrow at her, noticing how off she seems. "You alright?" 

She nods again immediately. "I'm fine, perfectly fine." 

He's about to say something else but then he catches a glimpse of her suitcase, and the couch in the back room, complete with a pillow and blanket. "Al, are you sleeping here?" 

She feels her face heat up and she's sure her cheeks are red. She thinks about lying to him for a moment, but she knows it's pointless, he can read her so incredibly well. "Temporarily, yeah." 

He frowns, immediately catching on. "What happened?" 

She shrugs, sitting down in her desk chair with a sigh. "Hal kicked me out." 

"Why would be do that?" He sinks down on the floor in front of her, placing his hands on her knees and looking up at her. 

"He knows about us." She tells him quietly. 

He freezes. "What?" 

"Well I don't know if he knows the details, but he said he's noticed the way I look at you, so he kicked me out." 

"Al, I'm sorry." 

She raises an eyebrow at him. "What are you sorry for? You didn't do anything." 

"Well this is my fault too, isn't it? We both consented to hooking up sometimes, and now you're having to deal with the fallout." 

"It's not your fault, I should've been better at hiding it." 

He's quiet for a moment. "How long have you been staying here?" 

"This is day four." 

His eyes widen. "Geez. Why didn't you tell me?" 

She scoffs. "What was I going to do? Call you up and say "hey FP, my husband noticed I make googly eyes at you whenever we're in the same room as each other and now I'm living in the back room of my office"? No, I couldn't do that, you have a family too." 

He frowns and rubs his thumbs in circles on her knees. "You still could've told me, I feel bad that you've been stuck here." 

"It's not so bad." She tells him. "Just a little lonely." 

"Well I'm happy to keep you company." 

She smiles at him and takes his hand in hers. "Thanks, FP." 

They stare at each other for a moment and she leans in just a little, seeing if he'll back away or not. He doesn't, of course, and so she leans in and connects their lips in a slow kiss, running her fingers up into his hair as she melts into it. 

"Al-" he starts to protest but she shakes his head. 

She knows exactly what he's going to say and she's quick to stop him. "FP don't ask me if I'm sure, please don't ask me that. Just kiss me, I need you right now." 

He nods and stands up to get a grip on her and then he's lifting her up and setting her on her desk, knocking papers and knick knacks to the floor as he does. 

She wraps her legs around him tightly and bites at his bottom lip to gain access to his mouth. He holds her tight, kissing her with just as much fervour as she, and savouring the way her lips feel on his. 

"Mmm," she moans into mouth, pulling away just enough to speak. "Lets go to the back, just in case someone drives by." 

He nods, diving back in for another kiss as he hoists her up into his arms, stumbling his way to the back room as she busies herself with kissing his neck. 

•

An hour later they find themselves wrapped in a think blanket on the floor, his fingertips tracing shapes into her back as she lays her head on his chest, just listening to the sound of his heart beating steadily. 

"Al?" FP says after what seems like hours of silence. 

"Yeah?" 

"We should probably talk about what this is between us, as scary as it may be." 

"You're probably right... I just don't know what to say." 

"I know. But we have to talk about it, it's obvious this isn't as innocent as we thought it was, at least, for me it isn't?" 

She looks up at him with sad eyes. "Me too. But I don't know what we can do, this is so messy." 

"Well we've never been known to have it easy." He says, making her smile. 

"For once I would like for things to be easy though." She strokes his cheek as she stares into his big brown eyes, seeing so much passion behind them as he stares back at her. 

He exhales and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "You are so beautiful, Alice." 

She doesn't know how to respond, she prices herself on being good with words but FP just makes her mind go blank. So instead of saying anything, she kisses him, melting into it and loving the way his lips feel on hers. 

He holds her tight to him, never wanting to let her go. "I love you." He mumbles between kisses and she freezes, pulling away immediately. 

"FP... we can't." She tells him, nuzzling her nose against his as she aches to say it back. 

He sighs. "Alice, we could have something here. I know you feel it. We could make this a real thing." 

She opens her mouth to say something but her eyes catch sight of a framed photo of her daughter and she feels a wave of guilt wash over her. She pulls away from him, clutching the blanket to her chest as she holds in tears. 

He knows what's coming next and he braces himself for it. "I know it's scary, Alice, but don't we deserve to be happy?" 

She looks at him with tear filled eyes. "I can't give you the answer you want, FP. I'm sorry." 

He nods and stands up, slipping on his clothes again as Alice stares in shame. "I'm sorry-" 

"It's fine, Alice. I should of expected this. Timing is never on our side, I don't know why I thought it would be now." 

She catches his hand as he walks past her. "I don't want to lose you." 

He clenches his eyes shut, willing away his emotions and raises her hand to his lips, brushing a kiss to her knuckles. "Alice, when it comes to you, I'm always going to be here. As much as it hurts, it's just the way it is." He let's go of her hand and walks towards the front door. "Take care of yourself." 

•

She cries the whole way back to her house, scolding herself for being so stupid and turning FP down. He was right there, all she had to do was say yes. Instead, she let him go again, and this time she's sure he's not coming back. 

She unlocks her front door and shuts it behind her as quietly as possible, careful not to wake anyone. And then she's tip-toeing up the stairs into she and Hal's room. 

Her side of the bed is neatly made and he's clutching one of her pillows. She frowns at the sight and sets her suitcase down, slipping into the bed beside him and stroking his cheek until his eyes flutter open. 

"Hey." She whispers. 

"Hey." He curls his arm around her and she nuzzles into his chest, breathing him in. 

"I'm sorry." 

He frowns. "Me too." 

"I don't know what came over me, I was so stupid. You're the only one I want." 

"I overreacted. So what you were looking? A marriage has to have trust and I'm sorry that I didn't trust you." He presses a kiss to her forehead and pulls her closer. "I love you." 

She smiles softly at him and presses a kiss to his lips. "I love you too." He smiles back at her, pushing her hair back so he can see her face. "Does this mean I can come back home?" 

He nods. "I'd love nothing more." He tightens his arms around her when she kisses him again, enjoying the feel of her back in his arms after so many days away. 

"Mommy?" A tiny voice speaks from the doorway. 

Alice pulls away from Hal and looks in the direction of the voice, finding Betty standing there clutching a stuffed animal. "Hi baby, what's wrong?" 

"I had a bad dream." She tells her tearily. "Will you come sleep with me?" 

Alice nods. "Of course I will, honey." She looks over at Hal and gives him a small smile. "I'll be back." 

"I'll be here waiting." 

She walks over to Betty and feels the little girl clutch her hand tightly. "Sorry I woke you up, mommy. It was a really scary dream." 

"It's okay baby, I don't mind." She slips into Betty's small bed next to her, feeling the six year old cuddle up close to her, her tiny arms and legs wrapping around her for dear life. Alice rubs tiny circles on her back, knowing it helps calm her and helps her fall asleep. 

And as she holds her daughter close, she realizes that she could never jeopardize this. If she had said yes to FP, she could lose her daughters' love. She's already lost her son, she can't lose her daughters too. 

But still the idea of what she and FP could have together lingers on her mind and she cries silently into Betty's hair as she holds her tight. Telling herself that everything worked out as it should, even if she doesn't entirely believe it.


End file.
